Internet marketing has grown and its development has continued until today net sources offer a great variety of goods and services. But not all goods are eagerly sought after; Internet end users (consumers) tend to demand goods having higher added values. In addition, many such consumers, or users, are not intimately familiar with the operation of personal computers; their ranks include a considerable number of so-called beginners for whom the installation of application software, or the need to perform the detailed setup of an operating system for a personal computer, constitutes a large and unwanted load. Furthermore, a need exists for means to distinguish between competing companies that provide goods or services via the Internet, and to thus identify sources whose goods or services differ or that provide more attractive or additional services, and to obtain more computer users (enlarge the customer base).
A system that includes devices connected to a LAN can manage these devices using a system management tool. The system management tool makes possible the installation of application software and the setting of details for the device, and for a conventional system management tool, it is premised that a device will be connected using a LAN, and that a management console for managing the device will be connected to the same network as a management server, as an in-house network. Furthermore, since the operation of the system is supposed to be limited to a single company, the system does not include a function that enables each one of multiple management consoles to administer and control the access of a managed device. A general setup is established for a management console for the management of all the devices. And in addition, since the management console is supposed to be connected via a LAN, the level of the security provided by the management console and the server can be ascertained only by employing a user verification that includes a user ID and a password.
However, when a company employs the Internet to provide for a consumer, or a user, a service having a higher added value, according to the conventional technique, the company must construct therein a device management console and a device management server before establishing a connection to the Internet. Since companies, especially middle sized and small companies, must themselves perform the initial construction of management systems and the operation of management servers, increases in the loads imposed on them constitutes a critical problem.
On the other hand, if a company desires to borrow part of a conventional network and to entrust an agent with the operation of the system, conventionally, a function for managing the accessing of a managed device is not provided for each of a number of multiple management consoles, and thus, they can not respond to the needs of a company that manages a specific device group. Furthermore, since the management console is supposed to be connected to a LAN, the security between the management console and the management server can be ascertained only through user verification, for which a user ID and a password are employed, and therefore, while taking security into account, the connection of a management console to a server via an external network is not a preferable arrangement.
It is, therefore, a first object of the present invention to enable a system configuration, wherein only a management console is installed in a company, so that it is not necessary for companies to perform the complicated operations that can be provided by a management server. For example, when a device management server is installed at a specific ISP (Internet Service Provider), the ISP can provide a charge based device management service for multiple companies, and individual company expenses can be reduced.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a technique whereby multiple companies can share the same device management server and the same database server, and can distribute software to or provide device settings or other services for only those devices that are managed by the respective companies. In short, relative to devices, the access management of multiple consoles is supported. And more specifically, this function inhibits the setting of devices managed by other companies.
It is a third object of the present invention to enforce security between a management console and a management server and to employ the management console via an external network.